The memo in question was distributed to members of the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees in June. The committee members were asked to keep the information secret from the public and not discuss the memo's existence. Now the secret has slipped.

The debate revolves around whether Americans involved in terrorist groups such al-Qaida can reasonably be killed overseas, even if there is no intelligence to indicate that they are actively engaged in a plot to attack the U.S. Such was the case in the Sept. 2011 strike in Yemen that killed alleged al-Qaida operatives Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. Neither man had ever been indicted by the U.S. government or formally charged.

The memo leak comes on the eve of the confirmation hearing for potential U.S. Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan. Mr. Brennan, a former counterterrorism advisor to President Obama, was among the first to make the case publicly for deadly drone strikes on Americans involved with terrorist groups. At a speech last year he argued such strikes were "consistent with the inherent right of self-defense."

Those comments were echoed in March at a Northwestern Universityspeech by Attorney General Eric Holder, who argued killing Americans targets could be justified if there is "an imminent threat of violent attack."

But the white paper goes beyond the public comments of Mr. Brennan and the Attorney General, arguing that even in cases where there is not a known imminent risk, use of deadly force is justified. This principle is described therein as a "broader concept of imminence", which suggests that mere membership and training activities in high-profile terrorist groups represents an imminent risk.

The memo suggests that if a capture operation on an American involved with a terrorist group would pose "undue risk" to American special forces soldiers, a death strike may become lawful, even if it was not already.

AG Holder perhaps alluded to such a premise in a comment in his speech, in which he said, "The Constitution does not require the president to delay action until some theoretical end-stage of planning, when the precise time, place and manner of an attack become clear."

The memo suggests joining a terrorist group and committing to "threatening" activities may be justification enough for the U.S. government to kill an American citizens without warrant.
[Image Source: Al Arabiya]

States the paper:

The condition that an operational leader present an 'imminent' threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future.
...A lawful killing in self-defense is not an assassination. In the Department’s view, a lethal operation conducted against a U.S. citizen whose conduct poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States would be a legitimate act of national self-defense that would not violate the assassination ban. Similarly, the use of lethal force, consistent with the laws of war, against an individual who is a legitimate military target would be lawful and would not violate the assassination ban.

The Obama Administration argues that targeted killings do not constitute assassinations (which an executive order bans). It also argues that they are Constitutional and not a war crime, when placed in the context of counterterrorism.

II. Even More Classified Memos Remains Secret

But the Obama Administration has also fought to keep precise details of its policy secret. The white paper, while confidential, mirrors arguments in even more highly classified memos on targeted killings from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, memos that are used as the basis for actual operations. Reportedly, the DOJ has refused to turn over these memos to Congress or even acknowledge they exist.

Sen. Ron Whyden (D-OR) and a bipartisan group 10 other senators, have written a letter [PDF] to President Obama asking him to release the rumored classified DOJ memos on drone strikes on Americans. In the letter the group writes, "[T]here will clearly be circumstances in which the president has the authority to use lethal force [against Americans who fight against their own country]... [However] it is vitally important ... for Congress and the American public to have a full understanding of how the executive branch interprets the limits and boundaries of this authority."

Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), argues in an NBC News interview about the less-classified memo, "This is a chilling document. Basically, it argues that the government has the right to carry out the extrajudicial killing of an American citizen. … It recognizes some limits on the authority it sets out, but the limits are elastic and vaguely defined, and it’s easy to see how they could be manipulated. [It] redefines the word imminence in a way that deprives the word of its ordinary meaning."

The fight to release the more classified memos has been the subject of a court case brought by the ACLU and reporters at The New York Times. In U.S. federal District Court in New York, Judge Colleen McMahon expressed sympathy and support for the plaintiffs' arguments.

In her opinion she writes, "[Administration officials] had engaged in public discussion of the legality of targeted killing, even of citizens. [But they did so] in cryptic and imprecise ways, generally without citing … any statute or court decision that justifies its conclusions."

She told the plaintiffs that she would like to order the release of certain classified documents, but that a "thicket of laws" prevented her from releasing the information, even if it pertained to a topic in which the government, at face value, appeared to be behaving unconstitutionally.

You know, this is really sad. It's disappointing.Everything we were taught growing up about holding true to our principles, ideals, integrity, morality, and honor...the thought behind a document like this appears to push them away.

There will always be "terrorists," or whatever the current adjective of the time is. There will always be madmen who devalue life and place themselves over the personal liberties of others. Do we allow our foundation to crumble in order to combat them?

Warrant-less wiretapping, automated surveillance, the slow and steady elimination of constitutional rights, and even disregard for human rights, and now (the proposition and analysis of) drone strikes on our home soil...all in the name of "national security." It really is the age-old cry of the oppressor...a scapegoat for these curtailments...and such like chemotherapy in its destruction.

We've fought so hard, lost our friends and family in pursuit of freedom...only to now seemingly strangle ourselves with our idle hands and complacent bellies. Are we becoming the U.S.S.R., are we becoming what we fought for so long to contain? I fear the sacrifices our soldiers have made are in danger of being in vain, the further we move down this dark and perverted path.

quote: There will always be "terrorists," or whatever the current adjective of the time is. There will always be madmen who devalue life and place themselves over the personal liberties of others. Do we allow our foundation to crumble in order to combat them?

Sadly the answer to your question would seem to be yes. It's also sad how trusting people are in their Govt so long as the "correct" party is in charge. Govt only has to say person X is a terrorist and people believe that's true. Nobody wants to ask "what if TPTB got it wrong this time".The problem of killing terrorists comes from equating terrorism with war. In a war all sorts of civil liberties get suspended. But wars end. Terrorism has aspects of war but it'll never end. There will always be some group of people intent on causing harm to the US or it's people. I worry less about Obama than what some president 25 years from now will do with the precedent and powers now "granted". I have little faith in our legislators doing much, appearing to be soft on terrorism will scare them off. And so long as the sheeple can watch American Idol w/o too many commercials, they'll not demand any action from them.